[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., MO., USA

[Rick Halperin]

June 27



TEXAS:

Bryan Collier Named Director of 150,000-Inmate TX Prison Agency


Second-in-command Bryan Collier will be the next director of the Texas 
Department of Criminal Justice, taking the reins at an agency that oversees 
more than 100 prisons and nearly 40,000 employees, the Texas Tribune reports. 
Collier, the agency's deputy executive director, will replace Brad Livingston, 
who has led the agency since 2004. Collier with the department as a clerk, 
correctional officer and parole officer before moving up the ranks. He's been 
with the agency for more than 30 years. He will take over for Livingston 
starting Aug. 1.

As executive director, Collier will lead nearly 40,000 employees, manage a $3 
billion annual budget, direct more than 100 prisons with nearly 150,000 
inmates, and oversee the nation's busiest execution chamber. His agency is 
struggling to recruit and retain employees, maintain aging facilities, and keep 
contraband out of inmates' hands. Livingston joined the department in 1997 as 
deputy director of the financial services division. In 2001, he became the 
chief financial officer. As of February, his salary was $266,500.

(source: The Texas Tribune)






FLORIDA:

Sievers attorneys say death penalty notice wasn't properly filed


Attorneys for Mark Sievers filed a motion Monday to strike the state's death 
penalty notice, arguing the state didn't properly file it.

State statute requires the notice to include what the state plans to prove in 
trial, but the notice last week does not include that information.

The state attorney's office filed notice it intends to seek the death penalty 
against both Sievers and Jimmy Rodgers, who are charged with 1st-degree murder 
in connection with the death of Sievers' wife, Teresa, 1 year ago Wednesday in 
her Bonita Springs home.

A judge will have to respond to the motion as part of the criminal proceedings.

Also filed Monday was a defense motion for attorney fees, requesting the state 
pay for trial cost since Mark Sievers qualified for a public defender.

(source: ABC news)






MISSOURI:

Edgerton man indicted on 4 counts of murder in relatives' deaths----Victims' 
bodies found outside burning home in February


A Platte County grand jury indicted Grayden Denham, 24, on charges of 
1st-degree murder in the slayings of his grandparents, his sister and his 
3-month-old nephew.

Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd announced the charges in a news conference 
Monday.

The bodies of Russell Denham, 82, Shirley Denham, 81, Heather Ager, 32, and 
infant Mason Schiavoni were found outside their burning Edgerton home on Feb. 
20. Investigators said the victims appeared to have been shot and set on fire.

A dog found dead in the yard had also been shot.

Grayden Denham was arrested in Arizona the day after the fire. Police said he 
drove there in his grandfather's Nissan Versa, which he had been told not to 
use because his license was suspended.

The charges against Grayden Denham carry a minimum penalty of life in prison 
without parole. Prosecutors said they have the option of seeking the death 
penalty but have not yet decided whether to use it.

Grayden Denham is also charged with arson, animal abuse, stealing a motor 
vehicle and armed criminal action.

His bail has been set at $4 million.

(source: KMBC news)






USA:

Democratic Platform Committee Drafts Language For Convention


On Friday, a panel of Democrats developing the party's platform ahead of next 
month's Philadelphia convention voted down an amendment that would have opposed 
the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. The TPP has been a heavily debated 
topic within the Democratic party as some rank-and-file Democrats are opposed 
to President Obama's support of it.

The panel decided to address the issue by maintaining a neutral stance, stating 
that "there are a diversity of views in the party" and asserting that a trade 
deal "must protect workers and the environment".

The panel also touched on language regarding the death penalty, expansion of 
Social Security and raising the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour. They have 
approved calling the death penalty "a cruel and unusual form of punishment 
which has no place" in the state and saying that it should be abolished.

(source: politicspa.com)